This was written by Cycads and originally published at her blog. Come into my parlour: A scene from Nadine Labaki’s ‘Caramel’ (2007) The depiction of liberal Muslim women in film is a moment made of groundbreaking stuff. In a time where the veil is a symbol of subjugation, films about Muslim women like ‘Caramel‘ (2007) […]

Guess what? Hollywood is making a film with a female Muslim protagonist! Yes, that’s right. A female Muslim protagonist. The main character in the film is a Muslim woman. For the first time. And what is the name of the film, you may ask? Guess. Just take a quick guess. What’s that? Did you say […]

“Lesbian film” was one sensationalist headline I read while researching up and coming Egyptian director Aiten Amin’s short 10 minute film Ragelha (‘Her man’). I admit I was hesitant to critique the movie in my post, given the response we had when we discussed the documentary Gay Muslims and the movie A Jihad for Love.* […]

Is it possible to capture the lives of queer, gay, lesbian and bisexual Muslims in the span of a 81 minute film without essentializing their lives into either “oppressed” or “liberated”? Is it possible to do so while representing other aspects of their identities? Is it possible to recognize the vast differences in the experiences […]

I went to see You Don’t Mess With the Zohan this weekend. I’ve never been a huge fan of Adam Sandler’s, so it was mostly to see Maysoon Zayid make a cameo in the film (tip: at one point, she slams the phone down and yells, “SHARMUTA!” Which was worth half the cost of my […]

This was written by Emrah Güler and was originally published at the Turkish Daily News. In light of celebrating Mother’s Day last Sunday and the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival continuing in Ankara this week, we take a brief look at women in the history of Turkish cinema. We look at how women were […]

Written by Andrea Useem; this was originally published at Religion Writer. I’ve just finished watching FrontRunner, the new documentary from New View Films about Massouda Jalal, the only female candidate in Afghanistan’s 2004 elections. It’s hard, of course, to think about a woman running for president without immediately making comparisons to the current presidential race […]

I recently came upon the film Daughters of Afghanistan in my local library. I wasn’t sure of what to expect, but upon watching it I was pleasantly surprised. The 2004 documentary is a refreshingly clear look at the lives of Afghan women following the fall of the Taliban after the 2001 American invasion. Canadian journalist […]

The Associated Press recently released a news piece titled by my local paper “Love story bolsters Islam’s image.” From the title alone, you’d think that Islam has never had a love story. The story implies that the film it covers is the first to portray Islam positively. We here at MMW tend to cover negative […]

The Muslim American organization One Nation is hosting an online film contest about American Muslims. Sponsored by Link TV, the contest features animation, music, comedy, documentary, drama, and films by youth. The short films seek to educating people about “the American Muslim experience,” in all its forms. It’s a great idea. Of course, with twelve […]